upstartHR

Making HR better. One HR pro at a time.

  • Leadership in the trenches

    Our July NASHRM program is going to be very special. We have a speaker coming to talk about leadership, teamwork, and how it applied to his situation as a prisoner of war. Mike Durant, speaker, veteran, and CEO, is going to take us through his experience and share some lessons about how it applies to…

  • Getting hit by a bus-the importance of succession planning

    Last week I attended a NASHRM luncheon called Growing and Buying Talent for Tomorrow, and it focused mainly on succession planning. I thought it sounded interesting, so I went to the lunch meeting. Little did I know that it would raise some interesting questions that I hadn’t considered before. Sure, you think about the usual…

  • 4 reasons you don’t need a social media policy

    Every once in a while I hear someone talking about needing a “social media policy” at work. Ugh. If you know me at all you’ll instantly guess that I’m against such things. I would rather offer training instead of more regulation. Here are four reasons you probably don’t need a social media policy at all:…

  • How to Kill the Status Quo

    This session at ALSHRM was amazing. It was unlike the rest of the day. No slides, just a conversation among the attendees and speaker, Dale Dauten. Below you’ll find a kind of stream-of-consciousness post full of great quotes and thought-provoking ideas. Enjoy! Dale did a little prep work before the session by polling the attendees.…

  • Uncovering manager development opportunities

    Managers need development like any other employee, but sometimes it is difficult to find out just what they want or need to learn. Click the link for part two in the series on how to develop managers. Recently I’ve realized that one of the biggest needs we have as an organization is manager training. We…

  • Influencing people at work

    AKA: All Knowing but not All Powerful There’s much to be said about influencing people at work. It’s part art, part science, and part random chance. HR is like that. Our role is more subtle. We offer support to managers but never take over their roles (even if they ask you to). They are paid…

  • Communicating layoffs

    Communicating layoffs has to be hard work. I’ve never done it, but even having conversations that affect the livelihood of employees one-on-one is tough enough. Recently I ran across this great article titled “The Speech I Wish CEOs Would Give [for Layoffs]” by Dale Dauten. Link to the original post is at the bottom, but…

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